Back to Square One
by Ratchet's Apprentice 88
Summary: The research proved it was going to happen, but now they have to deal with it. Steve is left with a pre-serum immune system, forced to relive the main sicknesses from his childhood. Follow the Avengers as they help take care of their almost constantly ill captain. How long can this possibly last?


**This is my first Captain America based fic and I'm not familiar with the whole scenario. Comments, suggestions, and feedback are always appriciated. Enjoy! :-)**

**Edits Made: Word choice and spelling**

* * *

Twenty three year old Steve Rogers was taking his morning jog around New York City. Currently on his fifth mile, he found himself much more tired than he usually was.

_"Didn't get much sleep last night."_ he thought to himself. Then he turned back and ran home.

When he stepped through the elevator door, he was greeted a quiet tower. Being that he left for his run at 6:00 am, and given how much he actually ran, he was surprised to see it was already 7:30. Typically, he would run sixteen mile and it would only take him an hour. Today he ran only ten miles and it had taken him an hour and a half.

_"Sleep, that's all"_ he dismissed again.

He followed the rest of his morning routine as normal. He showered, changed, the cooked breakfast. By eight o'clock the rest of the team, and Pepper, were dressed and at the table, the smell of French toast, eggs, coffee, and bacon dragging them out of bed. He put the three plates piled high with food in the middle of the kitchen table so they could eat family style, but soon returning to the counter, as he had forgotten Thor's pop tart.

"Friend Steve, you have done a most excellent job preparing this feast so that we may break fasting. I insist you enjoy it and allow me to toast my own pop tart." said the thunder god.

Steve was about to tell Thor that it was no trouble, but he could see the sincerity of his expression and let him do it. He handed Thor the silver packet and sat in his spot at the table. About seven minutes later, the smell of smoke permeated the kitchen. He looked over at the counter and saw that it was coming from the toaster. It was coming out in thick black plumes and it wasn't letting up. He got u from his chair to help, but he was too slow. Bruce and Clint, who were the closest to the Thor and the smoking appliance, took care of it by dislodging the stuck toaster pastry and running it water cold water before dumping it into the garbage, but by this time the whole floor was filled with the thick smoke. As the others went to go turn on vents and open windows, Steve found that it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. This feeling of having someone choke you from the inside was all too familiar to the super soldier. Steve tried not to panic, he hadn't had an asthma attack since before the super soldier serum. He kept trying to tell himself that the smoke was just making the air thick but any hopes of that had been shattered when he started wheezing. Natasha, being the all knowing all seeing, and all hearing master assassin she was, instantly picked up on this.

"Steve," she said, grabbing the attention of everyone else as well. "are you alright?"

By this time, his airways had closed to the point where he could no longer speak properly. He was sweating and his face was red from the lack of oxygen. He was hunched over a bit, using the table and the back of a chair to keep himself standing. He clutched his throat in one hand and held on to the edge of the table in the other, to tell her that he was not alright. While hoping it would pass, he had waited too long. The others came running over and Tony just made it before Steve collapsed, catching him just before he hit the floor.

"What know?" Tony asked the group. It was his girlfriend who took the lead.

"Inhaler. Steve, do you still have you inhaler?"

The choking super soldier nodded.

"Where is it sweetie?"

"R...Roo...Room,...Dre...,Dress...Dresser" Steve practically breathed out in between desperate gasps for air. Still being supported by Tony, they made their way towards his room lead by Pepper, followed by the rest of the concerned team. When they got to the locked door, Tony ordered Jarvis to unlock the door.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. open the door!" he shouted. Steve was getting heavier and not because Tony wasn't strong enough to hold him up. No, it was because Steve was getting weaker.

Once inside, Pepper quickly found Steve's inhaler on the top of his dresser while Tony sat the man down on his bed. He held the mad in a sitting position while he adjusted the pillows on the bed in a way that Steve could be propped up on them. A slightly different shade of red tinged the cheeks of the super soldier, this one was a blush of embarrassment at his team seeing him so weak and helpless. Tony noticed and told him that none of them thought any less or any differently of him and to stop being stupid about it. When the pillows were set, Tony leaned Steve up against them. What scared the billionaire the most was how the captain held his head. He had expected him to at least try and hold his head up, but instead, he just let it drop back into the pillows, still gasping for air, showing how much strength he had really lost. Tony, in an act of comfort he deny later, grabbed the younger/older man's hand and gave it a soft squeeze for reassurance, and felt him squeeze back lightly. Then Pepper ran over, inhaler in hand so Tony dropped Steve's and stepped back, allowing his girlfriend space to work. Pepper helped him up into a sitting position and Steve tried feebly to lift his arm and take it from her and do it himself, but she wouldn't allow it. His hand was gently taken by hers and guided to the button on the top of his inhaler. When he pressed it, a puff of medication was released and Steve breathed it in as quickly as possible. Still short of breath, he took another dose, then pulled the inhaler from his mouth. Pepper took it from him and placed it on the bedside table, allowing his arm to fall limply to his side. "Thank you" he wheezed. Then he closed his eyes in relief and focused on breathing. Pepper took a seat on the side of the bed and pushed back some hair that was matted to his forehead with sweat. He didn't say anything but the red, tinge of embarrassment returned to his face.

* * *

"You all can go. It'll be alright, I'll stay with him." Pepper said after nearly fifteen minutes of the team standing awkwardly by the door. They all obliged and Tony stole a kiss from her before leaving. Five minutes later, Steve's breathing hitched and he began coughing violently. Pepper was quick and helped him sit up and take a dose of medication, then laid him back down. Again, he closed his eyes in relief. This time though, Pepper took a thin green blanket off the foot of the bed and draped it over Steve, up to his waist.

"Thank,... you" he wheezed again. "How did,...you know,...what to do?"

"Shh Shh Shh Shh, don't try and talk sweetie." she said in a hushed, comfortingly mother like tone.

"And I have cousins with asthma. They would have attacks all the time but I've never seen one like this. This one was beyond bad."

She looked at Steve with comfort in her eyes. It was more than a little unusual to see Captain America weak and wheezing while propped up  
in bed. Not ten minutes later, Steve began to cough again. Not as bad as last time but bad enough that he needed the inhaler again. Pepper stayed with him the whole time until his weakness took over and he drifted off into sleep. Pepper then left, but not before telling J.A.R.V.I.S. to keep a sharp watch on Steve and if anything were to happen, to alert her. But nothing did happen and Steve slept into the afternoon.

* * *

At 4:30 pm, an hour after he had woken up, Steve sat in the armchair by the window in his room, fiddling with his inhaler in his hand. He had kept it as a momentum, a keepsake to remind him of his old life. He had expected never to use it again, but today it saved his life. The question on his mind was why. Why did his asthma come back? What was happening to him?

As it turns out, the same question was on Tony's mind as well. To find the answer he looked through his dad's old research books. Then he found it.

"Guys! Guys! I have an explanation! I have an explanation for what happened today!" Tony yelled as he ran into the lounge, book in hand. Steve, who was anxious to know, lifted his head out of the novel he was reading. Everyone was there and everyone was waiting.

"I found the answer in one of my dad's old research books. He wrote here "after approximately 70 years, serum will reanalyze itself within the body, reverting the subject's immune system to its pre-serum state. The subject must re-face sickness in order of occurrence to assist in the regeneration of the serum enhanced immunity" so basically, Cap here needs to get sick again a couple more times and once that's over, he'll be back to normal Cap. So what are we dealing with here? Jarv, what's Cap's medical history?"

_"Medical History of Captain Steve Rogers: severe asthma, Scarlet Fever, Rheumatic Fever, severe chronic sinusitis, chronic colds, high blood pressure, palpitations of the heart, easy fatigability, anxiety attacks, and tuberculosis."_

Everyone was silent. No one thought anyone could be so unwell. Finally, Steve spoke.

"Well, it looks like we're back to square one."

* * *

Well, there you have it folks. Remember, comments, suggestions, and feedback are welcome and appriciated. Stay tuned for the next update! Reviews are happienes!


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